Premium increases and changes

Health insurers must apply to the Minister for Health for premium increases. This happens at the same time each year. Premium changes take effect from 1 April each year.

Find out more about the process behind premium increases and what you can do if you want a cheaper policy.

Waiting periods

If health insurers choose to impose waiting periods on providing insurance for hospital services, they must be no more than:

12 months for pre-existing conditions

12 months for pregnancy and birth-related services

2 months for psychiatric care, rehabilitation or palliative care (even if it’s for a pre-existing condition)

2 months for all other services

Health insurers must not impose a waiting period if you upgrade your psychiatric care cover (once in your lifetime).

Health insurers can set any waiting period for extras cover.

Health insurers must not make you serve extra waiting periods if you switch to a new policy that offers the same level of benefits as your old policy. This applies even if you move to a different insurer.